Methane is the main component of natural gas, therefore is very available. This makes it suitable for road transport use as it won't run out quickly, this provides a constant supply of fuel. Methane is a readily combustible material thus making it suitable for engine. Also the complete combustion of methane is a"highly exothermic"reaction and produces around"-891kJ."This energy is normally used to "heat homes,"in the"generation of electric power"and is responsible for"1/5 of total energy consumption. The Madison Gas Electric Company currently charges its consumers about $0.66 (£0.42) per 100 cubic feet."These figures and facts display clearly that the energy produced is more through the combustion of methane is more than enough to power a car. Through the combustion of methane a few products are produced, the main being water vapour and carbon dioxide. The combustion of methane also produces"very small"amounts of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides,"virtually"no ash or particulate matter. This produces lower levels of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other reactive hydrocarbons. A table showing the products of combusting methane can be seen on http://www.naturalgas.org/environment/naturalgas.asp One problem with methane is that it is a"colourless, odourless gas", this means "organic sulfur compound are to be added in order to make the gas detectable."This allows leaks to be traced. Methane can be stored as a gas or liquid and"it is portable as a gas or compressed liquid." Through the capability of storage and portability it can also be distributed and used easily as the"infrastructure for distributing and use of methane already exists in the natural gas pipeline."Methane is unsafe as it is extremely flammable and is a gas at room temperature. Without certain modifications the methane as a fuel, relative to this factor, is unsuitable. There are many pieces of technology that could be adapted to make methane suitable for road use. These can be read about throughout the website. Methane definitely has potential for being suitable for road use and through reading more into methane that will become clear. If we can find effective methods of using methane as an alternate fuel it may well be a fuel for the future.

Methane is the main component of natural gas "75% is methane, 15% ethane and 5% other hydrocarbons." Methane is produced from anaerobic bacterial decomposition of plant and animal matter. The areas in which the methane is formed are called natural gas fields. At these fields two different types of processes can produce methane. The two types of natural gas are called biogenic and thermogenic gasses. The production of Biogenic gas is "formed at low temperatures and shallow depths by anaerobic bacterial decomposition of sedimentary organic matter." The production of Thermogenic gas can occur in two ways; primary and secondary Thermogenic gas. The primary Thermogenic gas is formed at higher temperatures and deeper depths. "The sedimentary organic matter is thermally cracked into hydrocarbon liquids and gas"- this gas is primary thermogenic gas. The secondary Thermogenic gas is formed by the "thermal cracking of oils at high temperatures into gas and pyrobitumen." This gas is secondary thermogenic gas."Biogenic gas is very dry - consists mainly of methane. On the other hand Thermogenic gas can be dry or contain significants amounts of wet gas components (ethane, propane, butanes) and condensate (C5+ hydrocarbons)."Natural gas is generated at depths of "6000m+", in general the"deeper the source the drier the gas." As"Natural gas is lighter than water it rises to the surface until it either seeps through the surface or is trapped by a layer of non-permeable rock. They can extracted from the trap by drilling."The cost of methane depends on a few factors. These are the quantity of methane that is being purchased, the processing involved in readying the gas for the buyer and the transportation required to get the gas to the buyer. "Lowest prices are paid by the companies that purchase the gas as it flows from the well. This is known as the wellhead price." These buyers receive a lower price as there is no processing or transportation involved."Highest prices are generally paid by homeowners. They buy very small quantities of processed gas transported directly to their homes. They pay what is known as the residential price." This tell us that if the gas was to be used in cars the price would be high as there would be lots of processing and transportation involved to get the gas to a fuelling station. There are other frequently quoted natural gas prices on the website: http://geology.com/articles/natural-gas-prices/